Seeking help for research on church organ cases and lofts

I am currently reading for an MA in History of Art at the University of Malta under the supervision of Mark Sagona. 

My research is concerned with the design, style and decoration of organ cases and lofts in the churches of Malta and Gozo, specifically projects dating between 1850 and 1940.

Since the period under research is pre-World War 2, some organ cases and lofts were completely destroyed and replaced by later projects which do not fall within the scope of this research.

Therefore, the study shall delve into both surviving projects, as well as projects destroyed during World War II (as is the case with Senglea parish, Kalkara parish, Vittoriosa Dominicans and Valletta Augustinians).

This is where aid from the Maltese community is required.

Organ at the Msida parish church.

I am currently in search of old photographs of destroyed organ projects, designs which are thought to be lost or destroyed, and any additional information passed down through the generations about these fascinating projects.

All information will be treated with confidentiality and anonymity.

In addition, any photographs and/or designs shall only be scanned and kept as a digital copy and shall not be retained or damaged in any way.

Should anyone wish to contribute to this study, they are to kindly contact me via celine.portelli.13@um.edu.mt or 9980 8568.

Celine Portelli – Lija

False façade

The second State of the Nation survey revealed that “nine of 10 respondents said they believe in God”.

Behind this false façade of God-believers, there is a lot of rot and corruption in Maltese society and its institutions.

In his Sette Giugno homily, Archbishop Charles Scicluna appealed for a fight against the corruption which reflected the “internal rot”.

The notion that belief in God leads to a moral or virtuous life is given the lie by the evidence: rampant corruption; crimes of all sorts; domestic violence; sexual abuse; drug addiction; greed; hate speech; cruelty towards animals... the list goes on.

Corruption on a large scale has been going on in Malta for years, as this newspaper observed in an editorial on June 12, 2015: “Claims of corruption, sleaze, misdemeanors and impropriety fly with sheer abandon... right now it would seem that Malta’s moral fibre is in tatters.”

Another editorial in the same newspaper (February 14, 2020) was entitled ‘Corruption as a way of life’. It concluded by saying that “citizens in Malta have been asking with increasing urgency, for the last few years, why have corruption and swindling the state become a way of life in Malta?”

JOHN GUILLAUMIER – St Julian’s